I was very uninformed when I decide to jump into pre-req courses I held a pervious non-science degree and after graduation worked then I decided to switch careers with zero research and guidance I guess I didn’t know what I was getting into… I hopped around to two unis and failed several pre-reqs like 6Fs and 1 D and 1 C and .All the courses I took were outside a degree so I didn’t have a pre-med counselor and didn’t know this would stay and hurt my record I had no clue that school had a grading system I was too new to the game and should have stopped taking anymore courses.
I am now a few years later at a much better school that i feel helps those who haven’t taken sciences before. And am getting 4.0 in my classes but I don’t know how med schools will view the fails in the first year sci courses I had taken prior. Anyone has any stories will help a ton.
If it helps at all, I started my college career with: B B B C F F F F. Hated life, “knew” I would never go to med school (lol), so “f*** college grades.” Dropped out to focus on life. 3 years later found my calling, and went back to school. 3.85 associates, 3.96 bachelor in nursing, cumulative 3.64gpa. It’s possible.
I have found, albeit anecdotally, that med schools want to see that you can overcome challenges, and that you are ready to spend an ungodly amount of time studying and retaining vast amounts of information. Some poor grades 7, 8, 9+ years ago won’t matter in the grand scheme of things, just as long as you can prove that you’ve gotten your s*** together. Upward trends matter significantly. Make sure you have a GPA greater than 3.0-3.2, minimum, and gather as many EC’s as you can. You NEED to tell a story, because your GPA won’t be the determining factor for getting you in. Tons of clinical hours, volunteering, shadowing, maybe research, etc. If you want it, you’ll get it.